Classic Horror is alive and well and this is the place to share all those great memories and new experiences with those who know that you just can't keep a good monster down. I have plenty to share and love hearing others show thier love for the great old universal and hammer classics. Share a great collectable find or seek help in finding that missing piece. Come on in and flashback to the good ole days. Please feel free to comment on any post no matter how old.

Do You Want Classic Horror Collectibles

Monday, September 17, 2007

It must be that time of the season, all the great Halloween monster goodies are showing up in the stores and I'm ready for any new items that may reveal themselves. So far I haven't seen anything new or any great universal monsters items I still need, but I am out on the prowl. If anyone whom wonders through here has noticed anything I could sure use a good tip. Official Universal Monsters items are on the top of the list but anything Vampire, Werewolf, Creature or horror themed will do. If any good classic horror flicks are showing up on the tube I'd like to know about those as well. Unfortuately AMC and their monsterfest has really gone down the tubes, it was once a classic monsters dream and now you lucky for two or three of the old classics. Regardless, it's time to start the celebration and bring out the monsters.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Peanut butter and Jelly, Milk and Cookies, Me and Playboy bunnies, some things just go so well together and one of my favorites is Monsters and Rock and Roll. Thanks to all them hard rockers out there we got some great horror movie songs. Sometimes horror movies contribute in other ways such as band names. Black Sabbath got their name from a old Boris Karloff movie. Some of the best horror movie songs are as follows.

Godzilla - Blue Oyster Cult

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Phantom of the Opera - Iron Maiden

Murders in the Rue Morgue - Iron Maiden

Frankenstein - Edgar Winter Group

Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon

Monster Mash by Bobby Picket wasn't a monster movie but still gets a honorable mention

Friday, September 14, 2007

I guess it is rather obvious by now that I am someone who enjoys his classic horror. I also enjoy other genre's as well and a good comedy is always entertaining, but when you can mix both monsters and comedy, it can be quite a treat. Naturally on the top of my list of horror/comedy would be the Abbott and Costello movies and the Classic "Young Frankenstein", but one other one really stands out with me and that is the movie "Love at First bite" with George Hamilton playing the Count. Leaving his homeland where no one is afraid of him any more, he goes to America and finds out that here he is just another nut case in the big city. There are so many great scenes and lines that just never seem to get old no matter how many times you see the movie. Our great Count Dracula goes from being the prince of darkness to a flying black chicken but he still doesn't lose his touch with the ladies and never gives them a "quickie" only a "Longie" The character of Renfield is hilarious yet still true to the original with his evil laugh and appetite for little things. Dr. Van helsing is portrayed very well as he boggles every attempt to get at Dracula and eventually finds himself bargaining with a cop on who gets to use Dracula's cape on what night. So do I have a problem with a Dracula who is drunk and singing in his coffin? Absolutely not, now how about a good Wolf Man comedy.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Today I have visited various horror groups and forums I belong too and have posed the question, what classic horror movie quotes still stick with you today? I for one am constantly using these great lines to the point that my wife thinks everything I say has originated from a past movie. I will list some of my all time favorites and I hope to hear some of yours. I will also list the popular ones from my other groups.

"I know there's no such person as Dracula. You know there's no such person as Dracula! But does Dracula know it?" - Abbott and Costello meets Frankenstein"There are far worse things awaiting man than death" - Dracula 1931"Dr. Pretorius: We shall drink to our partnership. Do you like gin? It is my only weakness. ""Dr. Pretorius: [to the monster inside the mausoleum] Here, have a cigar... they're my only weakness!" -- Bride of Frankenstein so which is it doctor?

Henry: "Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it's like to BE God!" - Frankenstein 1931 "It reminds me of the broken battlements of my own castle in Transylvania." - Dracula 1931

"I put a special hamper in the bathroom for your shirts. The other one is just for socks and poo-poo undies" - Young Frankenstein, Madaline Kahn to the Monster.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

It's really a monsters who's who. there is such a revolving door for just who played what and when. who played what classic horror monster is really a challenge, The Frankenstein monster really made the rounds.

Whom do you think did the best job?

Frankenstein monster:

Frankenstein - Boris Karloff

Bride of Frankenstein - Boris Karloff

Son of Frankenstein - Boris Karloff

Ghost of Frankenstein - Lon Chaney Jr.

Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man - Bela Lugosi

House of Frankenstein - Glenn Strange

House of Dracula - Glenn Strange

Abbott and Costello meets Frankenstein - Glenn Strange

Hammer version - Christopher Lee

Dracula:

Dracula - Bela Lugosi

Son of Dracula - Lon Chaney Jr.

House of Dracula - John Carradine

Abbott and Costello meets Frankenstein - Bela Lugosi

Hammer versions - Christopher Lee

Lugosi also portrayed the count in Mark of the Vampire and Return of the Vampire but not as Count Dracula.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Yes monsters are totally cool, awesome and a blast to watch as they do their scary deeds, BUT how could anyone not take notice of all those women of classic horror whom we ourselves would take on these beasts to save and carry off behind the credits. Is it just me or do monsters have great taste in women, whether they are a big as King Kong or as dead as a Mummy, they sure know how to pick them. One of my all time favorites is Evelyn Ankers who is not only a total knockout but has a long list of horror movie accomplishments such as The Wolf Man, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Son of Dracula, The Frozen Ghost, The Mad Ghoul, The Invisible Mans Revenge amongst others. What a woman!!!! How about Julie (Julia) Adams, once again a hottie and has some of the sexiest stills from The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Fay Wray, Elsa Lanchester and Caroline Monro and just about every woman to show up in Hammer film, most notably Veronica Carlson. To my beautiful women of classic horror I salute you and if I need to have monsters in my dreams to have you there as well then so be it and bring on the nightmares.

Friday, September 7, 2007

My classic horror monster collection I accumulated during the 70's is gone, gone, gone. I still remember taking my now priceless Aurora Models and smashing them together as I staged pretend monster fights. Why would I commit such a unforgivable act upon such great pieces of memorabilia. Well, I was young, stupid and incapable of thinking beyond the moment. Aside from my Famous Monsters magazines which I continued to buy up until they stopped publishing them,(at least the Forry Ackerman version) I was now back where I started and had to wait for new releases or re-issues to once again possess these great treasures. First it was a well detailed Universal Dracula and Wolf Man figure in a grocery store claw machine and I found myself once again on the hunt. One day while browsing at Toys R Us, I noticed that some very well made figures of the main Universal Monsters had been released by a company called Sideshow Toys. Not long after came the Polar Lights re-issues of the Aurora Models. More from Sideshow was next and I was snatching these items up like water in the desert. This is great, I've once again got a fairly respectable collection of all sorts of Monster collectibles, and just when I thought it couldn't get any better, here comes Ebay. Although I must admit that I would much rather first search out and find a item on the shelf somewhere, if I must, I can go to this new auction site and find just about anything as long as I wanted it more than the hundreds of others that were bidding on it as well. When I decided to save time and money and just collect one particular monster (The Creature), I for one moment considered putting the remaining part of my collection up for bid, but once that ridiculous thought was squashed I came to my senses and now will never let them go again. It may have once been "seek and destroy" now it's "seek and acquire. A partial sample of what I have acquired.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

King Kong, Godzilla, Gidrah, Rodan, Gamera, what about the big monsters, do they fall under the category of science fiction? or, are they also part of the classic horror gang? I remember as a kid these big beasts right there with Frankenstein, Dracula and the rest. I remember them as Aurora Models and full time residents in my Famous Monsters mags. In my opinion you can't really separate these greats into different categories or genre's. Sure the universal monsters have fought it out amongst each other, as well have the big guys, and if you tried to have The Wolf man take on Godzilla or The Creature pick a fight with Rodan, the outcome is obvious, but they do come together in their pursuit of scaring the kageebee's out of us and wreaking as much havoc as possible. So whether it's a giant tarantula or ant, a half man, half fly, or even a undead vampire, half man half wolf, or just body parts given new life, they all are classics and what a good monster movie is all about. Now don't get me wrong, a monster is not required to be a good classic horror movie, evil villains do a great job as well and I'll speak about them in a later blog.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

The great debate on Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine still goes on for some. Others are set in their ways and will not waiver. What is this friction that has taken from some the holy grail of magazines? Well I guess it depends on who you ask but in a nutshell it goes something like this. After FM publisher James Warren became too ill to continue as publisher and left the magazine, Editor Forrest Ackerman was unable to continue with a quality and organized magazine and ceased publication. A number of years later Ray Ferry took on resurrecting the much missed Famous Monsters and used a style a bit too close to that of Forry Ackerman. Although Ferry convinced Ackerman to come back as editor, he never took him seriously or gave him a fair shot at being a influence in the contents of his long time monster magazine. Forry eventually had enough and left for good. Ferry didn't inform the readers of this change and continued to publish Famous Monsters in a fashion the was so similar to the way Ackerman did that law suits eventually were filed and in came the courts. Ackerman won the original ruling as well as a appeal put out by Ferry and up to this day Ray Ferry still publishes FM even after bankruptcy and a efforts to force him to sell the trademark. So what is one to do, continue to read the magazine and support Ray Ferry or boycott it in support of Forry? I'm not totally sure what all the facts are, there is plenty on the web from both sides to read and decide for yourself so I guess we are left with this dilemma and I'd love to hear the thoughts of others.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Horror hosts for the most part if done properly are a great addition to the classic horror experience. People tend to remember the hosts just as fondly as they remember the movies they ran for us. Some have gone on to be rather famous and others just moved on, I just hope they got the message of just how special they are to us. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, here in Seattle from the late sixties until the about 1978, we had Nightmare Theatre hosted by the late Joe Towey as the Count. Joe was not only our late night vampire, but also was a big part of the J.P. Patches show (though this time behind the scenes), a local cartoon show that was very popular during it's run. The movies were top notch classic horror, they played all the Universal Monsters and Hammer greats as well. Nightmare Theatre would start off with the theme music, and a coffin in a castle room, the coffin would open up revealing a skeleton that would before our eyes transform into the Count. Then the Count would be his light hearted self and if I remember correctly he had a skull named Pamela he would talk to sometimes. I had two live encounters with the Count. One was by chance when my family was at the Seattle Center house and the Count was running around the upper level, what a awesome surprise. The other encounter was when my cub scout troop took a tour of Channel 7 and we got to see the Nightmare Theatre scenery and The Count himself. It was a sad time when Nightmare Theatre went off the air, especially since no live footage was kept, it was all recorded over. Joe Towey has passed away now and I wish I took the time to go visit him and thank him for all he did for me as a kid. Well I am now, and I hope we all take the time to give thanks to all the horror hosts who gave a great scare, great movies and great memories. Two thumbs up Joe.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Remakes........What about all these remakes. Has there really been one that did any justice to the original, or should it just be left alone. At this time there is one in the works for one of my farvorite movies and favorite monsters, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The thought of what they might do to a already perfect monster is really scary. Milicent Patrick, whom is responsible for the design of the original creature (sorry Bud, you don't get credit here) did the perfect job in her design and I hope those involved in the remake take some notice of that. I know how people seem to think that you need to adjust to the times and people today like bigger, badder and gorier. Hogwash I say, just take a look at what they did to Godzilla in that remake, I'll take the guy in a suit any day over that very forgettable remake version. These days when we see a werewolf movie they turn into some kind of oversized dog on steriods instead of a half man, half wolf like Lon Chaney Jr. and Henry Hull. The Mummy remakes don't even have a proper mummy in them. Sure the new effects are nice and should be used to some extent but let's not overdue it and take away what should go to the real star the monster. Call me old fashioned and biased I'm fine with that because I know what creepy really is, give me the old soundstage full of fog, howling wolves and a monster that is tasteful not overdone, oversized and doesn't even make a good model kit. Anyone seen Jack Pierce anywhere?---------------------------

Saturday, September 1, 2007

We all know that the two big dogs of monster movie making are Universal and Hammer. Universal was the one there in the beginning and set the foundation. Hammer came in later to revamp and in some way resurrect the fading classics. Universal monsters are the most recognizable of course and Hammer had some very interesting takes on them. Hammer's Frankenstein monster was a lot more like Mary Shelly envisioned it, but as their Dracula went, they followed Universal in the way of a more attractive and charismatic character. Both Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee gave us great interpretations of the role but if you want a more true to character choice, that would have to be in the film Nosferatu with Max Schreck. Another obvious difference between the two are that Universal was done at a much earlier time and didn't have any of the elements that Hammer was able to include. Other than color of course Hammer wasn't relying just on the creepy atmosphere, music and characters as Universal had to, but they could also add the elements of gore and sex. As a young kid watching the Hammer films, I had no problem noticing that scantily dressed, big breasted woman, and of course all the extra full color blood spilling everywhere. Whether is was Werewolves, Mummies or Vampires we got a great treat from both and I hope the younger folks out there will find them and appreciate them as well. Long live the classics.